Two Canadian Conservative candidates drop out after videos surface

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

TORONTO (Reuters) - Two Canadian Conservative election candidates dropped out on Monday after they were identified in embarrassing videos, including one who was caught on camera urinating into a coffee mug.

Jerry Bance had been a candidate for the ruling Conservatives in a Toronto-area district ahead of the Oct. 19 vote.

CBC News reported that Bance, a service technician, had been caught on a hidden camera urinating into a coffee mug during a house call to repair a leaky sink in 2012. It said he then dumped the contents of the mug into the sink he was supposed to be fixing.

He was filmed during an episode of the network's consumer watchdog program "Marketplace," which was investigating whether homeowners were being overcharged for simple repairs.

CBC said a tip on Sunday pointed out Bance was the technician in the story.

"Mr. Bance is no longer a candidate," Conservative spokesman Stephen Lecce said in a statement.

Bance could not immediately be reached for comment. But CBC said he issued a statement in which he expressed regret, adding the footage "does not reflect who I am as a professional or a person."

Separately, CBC reported the Conservative campaign dropped a second Toronto candidate, Tim Dutaud, after he was identified in YouTube videos making prank calls and mocking people with disabilities.

“What this says is we keep the highest standards for candidates and these two individuals are no longer candidates," Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters while campaigning in Ontario.

The right-leaning Conservatives, who have ruled the country for nearly a decade, are in a tight three-way race with the center-left Liberals and New Democratic Party.